


Gold

by laurus_nobillis



Category: Shall We Date?: Obey Me!
Genre: F/M, Female Reader, Fluff, Pining, but it just features a few texting scenes lol, could almost be smau, happy ending!, human world boarding school AU, secret santa gift, super vague school setting lmao sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 10:00:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28349526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurus_nobillis/pseuds/laurus_nobillis
Summary: A new student changes Mammon's semester for the better.
Relationships: Mammon (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Character(s), Mammon (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	Gold

**Author's Note:**

> This is my gift for the Obey Me Secret Santa 2020! It's my first time writing for OM and my first finished fic in a very long time, so I apologize if Mammon is a bit OOC here. I love seeing him soft(tm) so it's a little self-indulgent in that sense. Enjoy :P

Eight hours. There was no way he could be here that long, there had to be an opportunity to cut class and sneak out early, maybe hit up some shops and kill time. Anything but being  _ here _ all day long. Mammon groaned as he splayed out at his desk, legs spread and his head leaning back as far as he could comfortably reach. 

“Hey! Get your head off of my stuff-”

“Nah, I’m pretty comfy,” he huffed, not opening his eyes as he addressed his brother lazily, “you dragged me here, Levi, deal with the consequences.” Mammon yelped as Levi kicked the back of his chair, causing him to hit his head on his brother’s desk. 

“It’s the first day of the term, you know Lucifer would have killed us if we didn’t show up. You had no choice.” Leviathan paused for a beat. “ _ We _ had no choice.” As much as Mammon didn’t want to be there for the first day of class, Levi wanted to be there even less. 

That’s when Mammon began to notice the buzz that was circulating throughout the classroom. Not one to miss out, he tuned in to what his classmates were gossiping about near him as the teacher he was ignoring finished making his announcement. 

_ “We never get anyone new-” _

_ “I hope they’re hot-” _

_ “Halfway through the year?” _

_ “They’re gonna need to catch up-” _

He pieces together the jumbled voices and connects the dots just as the classroom door swings open, and his eyes trail up a feminine figure, landing on deep brown eyes that seemed to sparkle gold. When those eyes met his, his heart stuttered and all he could do was quickly look away, anywhere else. He feigned his most uninterested face and peered out the window, rationalizing the warmth in his cheeks as the embarrassment of being caught staring. 

“Class, please welcome Rei, she will be joining us for the remainder of the year.” 

The class, excluding Mammon, chants a half-hearted greeting as he desperately tries not to pay her any mind. He hears the new girl, Rei, turn to thank someone, and a familiar voice responds. 

His eyes shoot back towards the front of the room as he realizes that  _ Lucifer _ of all people was escorting her, and instantly he’s mad - at what, he’s not completely sure. Obviously Lucifer would be walking her to class, he was the student body president and it was his job. Not that anyone new ever came here, he thought, this place was pretty exclusive - he was only here because of his family, he wasn’t good enough at actually  _ doing _ school to make it on his own merit. At least, that’s what his brothers seemed to think. Maybe he wasn’t stupid, but he definitely wasn’t very interested in being any good at it or getting good grades. He just wanted it to be over so he could get back to his own life. 

Mammon thought all of this as he watched the new girl take a seat towards the front of the room - three rows forward and one row to the right, to be exact - not realizing that his gaze was nearly boring holes into the back of her head. He had no idea that her nerves, frazzled as she already was, caused her sweat under his gaze. It was hard enough being new, it was worse when people just unabashedly  _ stared  _ at her _. _

“Dude,  _ chill. _ ” Levi kicked the back of his chair, a little more gently this time, and he shook himself out of his reverie. He looked down at his notebook, and began scribbling randomly to give his sweaty hands something to do. Was he coming down with something? It was the beginning of spring term and it was still cold outside. Maybe he had a cold? That would explain why he felt warm and clammy at the same time. Regardless, he wanted to talk to her, he knew that much. 

The class crawled by, each minute seeming to stretch endlessly. When it came down to the last few minutes Mammon impatiently tapped his foot as he formulated his plan. He wasn’t going to allow Lucifer to take up all of her attention. She needed to know that The Great Mammon could show her how things  _ actually _ worked at this school, and that Lucifer was actually super lame and would just bore her to death and make her join pointless clubs for her “resume”. If she wanted to know anything  _ useful _ she should stick with him. He paid no mind to how his heart sped up just a little at the thought of her following him around, hanging onto his every word. 

All this planning had him completely oblivious to the bell ringing until he noticed everyone around him moving around. He stands up quickly, almost knocking over his desk in the process, and scoops up his few supplies and books. He’s too slow, though, and as soon as he’s halfway to the front of the room, Lucifer steps inside and greets Rei. He offers to carry her books and she smiles as a light flush dusts her cheeks, following Lucifer out of the room and away from a very dumbstruck Mammon. That nagging feeling of frustration returns and Mammon decides it’s best to just cut his losses and skip the rest of the day. He’s only slightly tempted to stick it out and see if she’s in any more of his classes. 

\---

Lucifer praises Mammon for showing up to class about fifty percent more often than the previous term, though there’s an air of disappointment surrounding his complement. Mammon is used to this, and brushes it off as if it were another insult. Usually he would argue, fight back to defend himself, but lately his mind is clouded by other... _ distracting things _ . It was true, he did show up to class more often - at least his first class of the day. He spent the first three weeks of the term staring at the back of the new girl’s head or trying to crack jokes during class to get her attention. To his frustration, she ignored him every time, instead focusing on her work. 

Today of all days, he was glad he showed up to class. He was in the midst of preparing a nice wad of paper to flick at towards her desk, hoping to get her to look at him even once, when the teacher announced that their final project would involve working in pairs - predetermined pairs. Levi groaned behind him, knowing right away that he wouldn’t be paired with his brother and would have to socialize with one of the “normies” in the class. Mammon wasn’t paying too much attention, focused on perfecting a paper ball that would be able to clear the shot three rows up and to the right. 

“The first pair will be Leviathan and -” the teacher listed off someone that Mammon had never paid any mind to, but hearing his brother’s name caused him to pay a bit more attention. A few more pairs were announced, before he received the best news he had heard in days. 

“Next, Rei and Mammon.”

He cheered internally, not noticing how Rei stiffened in her seat at the announcement. As overjoyed as he was to  _ finally _ have a chance to talk to her and get her frustratingly piercing eyes out of his mind once and for all, she was not nearly as excited. 

Having spent the first day of the term being introduced to and escorted by Lucifer, all she knew of Mammon was that he was rarely ever in class and when he was he didn’t pay attention or was in general a distraction. When she had asked about him to Lucifer, whom she had kept contact with after the first day, his response was fairly cold. All in all, she assumed that being partnered with Mammon for the project that would most heavily affect her final grade meant most of the work would end up falling on her shoulders. 

“You have the rest of the class period to meet with your partner and begin discussing your project. Please use this time wisely.” 

Before Rei could finish gathering her things, Mammon was at her desk, placing down his chair right in front of her. He set it backwards, sitting up against the back of it and resting his arms there. His golden eyes were instantly on her, trying to decipher what it was that had him so concerned about whether or not she was paying attention to him. She had no choice but to talk to him now, and he planned on using that to his benefit. He was too focused on planning what he would say to realize that she had begun talking about the project. 

“Mammon? Were you listening at all?” 

“You should give me your number.”

She blinked, before narrowing her eyes suspiciously. “I’d rather just get this project planned.”

“Oi,” he huffed, “that’s why I’m askin’ ya.” He shrugged, trying to act nonchalant even though his heart rate was concerning. She was finally  _ talking _ to him and all he wanted to do was keep the conversation going. “We need to talk about this project outside of school, yeah?”

Rolling her eyes, she ripped out a piece of paper from her notebook and scribbled for a second before handing it to him. 

“This is ONLY for things relating to school,” she warned, quickly jerking the paper away from him before he could grab it, making sure he was listening.

“Fine, fine, only for school.” She shook her head and he was momentarily distracted by the way her honey-gold hair fell over her shoulders. 

“Anything else and I will ignore you. Or maybe block you.” 

“Uh-huh.” 

She relented, handing him the slip before diving back into the project. He read the number enough times to memorize it. 

\---

Mon 02/15

**04:05pm [?]** _Yo! Hope ya weren't waitin' on bated breath for the Great Mammon to text you._

**04:05pm [R]** _So I take it this is Mammon._

**04:06pm [R]** _Do you have any questions about the project?_

**04:06pm [M]** _Why did ya transfer here?_

**04:06pm [M]** _What school were you at before?_

**04:08pm [R]** _I told you, school stuff only._

**04:08pm [M]** _Obviously, those questions are about school._

**04:08pm [M]** _Duh._

**04:10pm [M]** _Hello??_

**04:15pm [M]** _Are ya blowing me off?_

\---

Thurs 02/18

**06:35pm [R]** _Did you pick up the books we needed for the research?_

**06:35pm [M]** _…_

**06:35pm [R]** _Seriously? I guess I’ll go pick them up myself tomorrow._

**06:36pm [M]** _My bad, I got a lil distracted…_

**06:36pm [M]** _We can go get the books together ;)_

**06:37pm [R]** _It’s fine, Lucifer said he wanted to meet up anyway._

**06:37pm [M]** _What?????_

**06:37pm [M]** _You’re in luck, because it’s not often that The Great Mammon happens to be near the library at this time of day!_

**06:38pm [M]** _Don’t worry about a thing, Mammon’s got you covered._

**06:38pm [M]** _No need to talk to boring lame Lucifer >:P_

**06:42pm [R]** _Fine, I texted him to reschedule. Thank you for getting those books._

**06:42pm [M]** _Offer is still on the table, don’t pass up an opportunity to hang with The Great Mammon!_

**06:45pm [R]** _Actually, I’m going to do homework. Bye._

\---

Tues 02/23

**08:15pm [M]** _Hey Hey Hey!_

**08:15pm [R]** _Mammon, you know my rule._

**08:15pm [R]** _It’s getting late._

**08:16pm [M]** _Oi, I know that!_

**08:16pm [M]** _ I actually had a question for ya about the presentation. _

**08:17pm [R]** _???_

**08:17pm [R]** _Is this real life?_

**08:18pm [M]** _Hey, don’t act so surprised!_

**08:19pm [R]** _:o_

**08:19pm [R]** _Go ahead, I’m all ears._

**08:20pm [M]** _Okay well ya know that one section ya talked about in class?_

**08:20pm [M]** _The part with the guy who said the thing?_

**08:21pm [R]** _Did you bring it home with you?_

**08:21pm [M]** _<.<_

**08:22pm [R]** _You are hopeless!_

**08:22pm [R]** _I’ll make sure you take it home tomorrow. You’ll be in class, right?_

**08:24pm [R]** _Mammon?_

**08:24pm [M]** _Yeah, I’ll be there._

**08:24pm [R]** _ Good, I’ll see you tomorrow morning _ . 

**08:25pm [R]** _:*_

**08:25pm [M]** _:O_

\---

Wed 02/24

**05:20pm [R]** _Did that section make sense?_

**05:21pm [M]** _I think so_

**05:21pm [M]** _ Thanks for the notes, I’d be lost without ya _

**05:21pm [R]** _You’re welcome. I’m glad you showed up to class today._

**05:22pm [M]** _Well of course, ya are_

**05:22pm [M]** _ Ya got to hang out with The Great Mammon! _

**05:22pm [R]** _ I guess :P _

**05:23pm [M]** _Maybe I’ll show up more often if you like me that much!_

**05:24pm [R]** _read_

**05:24pm [M]** _Oi!_

**05:24pm [M]** _Ya can’t send that like it’s a read receipt!!_

**05:25pm [R]** _read :P_

\---

The rain fell in heavy sheets outside the library as the blustery winter weather transitioned into a damp spring. Mammon and Rei sat across from each other at a table scattered with books and papers, as Rei typed away at a laptop. Mammon’s eyes were scanning the book in front of him, absentmindedly scratching at his scalp with the highlighter he was holding. 

“You know, it’s kind of funny seeing The Great Mammon in a library of all places,” she scoffed lightly as she watched him try to make sense of the material in front of him. “Are you sure this isn’t your first time setting foot in one?” 

His brow furrowed as she playfully jabbed at him. He didn’t laugh. Maybe she didn’t know that he was actually trying, but hearing her joke about him being a deadbeat stung more than he thought it should. Why did it matter? In the end she was just the new girl and his partner in class, her opinion shouldn’t matter that much. But, he thought, for some reason it did. She seemed to realize that he wasn’t laughing along and quickly backpedaled. 

“I don’t mean, I’m sorry-”

“Why do ya think so low of me?” 

His question caught her off guard as his eyes bored into hers, searching for some kind of answer. She sighed, putting her head in her hands. 

“To be honest,” she muttered, lifting up her head to answer him, “Lucifer didn’t really talk you up as the ideal project partner. He didn’t have much nice to say, and basically confirmed my fear that I’d end up doing the whole project myself.” 

At her words he seemed to deflate, the look in his eyes becoming so pitiful that she genuinely felt sorry for him. 

“Look,” he starts, voice low as his eyes darted away from hers, “I know don’t always put other people first, but that doesn’t mean I’m some kind of scummy lowlife like Lucifer thinks I am.” He huffs, leaning back and crossing his arms. “It ain’t worth puttin’ in the effort for people when they don’t do the same. I’ve gotta focus on me and talk myself up instead.” By the time he’s finished talking, a light flush has spread from ear to ear, and he glances at her to gauge her response. He felt vulnerable sharing this with her, but he couldn’t stop himself. He needed her to know that he was worth the effort, even if he did suck sometimes. 

The pity she felt turned into something more affectionate as she listened to him. She knew it wasn’t fair that she judged him outright without giving him a chance. She’d hope that anyone else would do the same for her. 

“I’ll make a deal with you.” His brows raised as he watched her intently. “If you put up the effort into this project for me, I promise I’ll do the same for you, and we’ll both get a good grade.” 

His surprise must have been evident on his face because she let out the softest chuckle, a sound that made his stomach drop out of his feet. Anyone else would probably just leave him out in the rain and let him fail while they did the whole thing themselves. 

“Deal?” She holds out her little finger, and he hesitantly links it with his. 

“Pinky promise,” he says, though he can barely hear his own words over the pounding of his heart in his ears. She smiles and lets go to get back to work. When she looks back up at him, he’s wearing a pair of thick-rimmed black glasses. He notices her staring and mentions that they’re just for reading, he doesn’t really need them all that bad. 

As he gets back to work, it’s Rei’s turn to stare. Obviously she knew he was attractive, that was apparent from the minute they locked eyes on the first day of class. Something about the way his glasses framed his sharp, golden eyes as they focused so intently on the book in front of them had her picturing his determined look in other situations. She shook the thought away as the heat rose up in her cheeks.

\---

He was  _ killing _ it. 

Rei watched in awe as Mammon took over his portion of the presentation. Most of the class was asleep or just not paying any attention since it was the fourth and final presentation of the day, though a few seemed pretty surprised that Mammon even showed up. His usual charisma didn’t directly translate to presentations, but given where they started he was doing a great job. 

As they finished up the presentation, she turned to him with the biggest, brightest smile and a thumbs up. His face was painted bright red and he seemed nervous, even though the whole thing was over. 

“Are you okay? You look sick.”

“ _ I’mfine _ ,” he sputtered, looking anywhere but at her. “It’s uh...presentation jitters.”

She shrugged. He had nothing to be nervous about, he did a great job. She was sure they’d get a decent grade. With that, class is over, and Rei gives Mammon another thumbs up before they go their separate ways. 

\---

**02:30pm [M]** _Will you meet with me after school?_

Rei muffled the buzz of her phone, hoping the teacher didn’t notice. She quickly scanned Mammon’s message, noting that he sounded a lot more formal than their normal text conversations. Normally, he’d just tell her that he was taking her with him shopping, or that he was already at the library waiting for her. He didn’t usually ask first. 

**02:31pm [R]** _Thanks for texting me in the middle of class, dummy._

**02:31pm [R]** _But yeah, duh. Are you feeling okay?_

**02:31pm [M]** _Yes. Meet me outside by the campus garden at 3._

She stuffs her phone into her bag as she wonders why he’s being so weird and formal. Rolling her eyes, she figures that it’s probably nothing to worry about. 

\---

When she gets to the gardens, Mammon isn’t there yet. It’s a secluded spot, but the newly bloomed flowers perfumed the air with a sweet scent. It was a beautiful day, finally warm enough at the end of the term to not worry about bringing a jacket so she didn’t mind waiting for him, though she hoped this wasn’t some kind of prank and she was being stood up. 

Another minute ticks by before Mammon appears from around the building, hands behind his back and face screwed up in a panicked expression. He looked like a nervous wreck as he approached, looking anywhere but directly at her. 

“Hey,” she greets, waving him down. “Are you okay? You’ve looked kind of sick ever since this morning.” 

“It’s fine, I’m just,” he stutters, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other. His eyes dart back and forth, trying to look anywhere but directly at her. 

“Mammon, are you sure-” She’s cut off by his deep sigh as he steels himself and finally works up the courage to make eye contact. 

“Rei, I just have to get it out,” he begins, his cheeks flushed red and his eyes intently focused on her reaction. “I like you. I like you a lot, it’s like I haven’t been able to stop thinkin’ about you since you walked into class with Lucifer and it’s been driving me crazy! At first I couldn’t figure out what it was about you, but then you made me feel like, I don’t know, maybe I’m not a completely selfish dumbass, you know? A-and I get it if you don’t like me back because I’m a lot to deal with but I’ve never cared about anyone as much as I care about you.”

He pulls out from behind his back a homemade bouquet of flowers, very obviously clipped from the campus garden they stood next to. 

“I, uh, didn’t have the funds for anythin’ super fancy like you deserve, but-”

Before he can finish his apology, Rei’s arms are around him, and ever so gently their lips connect. Mammon’s mind goes blank, in complete shock at the situation he’s found himself in; but it doesn’t take long before he’s returning the kiss, snaking his arms around her waist and pulling her close, the already-forgotten flowers awkwardly crushed between them. His kiss is desperate and greedy, trying to make up for the months of lost time that he had secretly fantasized about this moment. 

Before they can get carried away, Rei pulls away. Her face is flushed and her lips are swollen from Mammon’s surprising intensity. 

“So,” Mammon begins with a sheepish smile, “that means you like me back, right?”

She laughs and rolls her eyes, confirming with a simple “duh”, before noticing that they’ve all but destroyed the bouquet he had lovingly picked for her. Mammon lets out a chuckle, holding up one of the few flowers that wasn’t completely flattened. 

“I guess you can make that up to me by taking me out on a real date,” she muses, taking the flower and twirling it between two fingers, “as your girlfriend.”

Mammon grins, cheeks still flushed red, and he puts an arm around her shoulders. “I think I know just the place where I can show you off.” He leans down to place another kiss on her cheek as he slings her bag over his shoulder, content to walk her home. The butterflies in his stomach settle into something a little lighter, though the tingling on his lips lingers. Not a bad problem to have, he thinks. 

  
  



End file.
